guildhalls

Pagoda Hopping in Cholon: Part 2, HCMC | Vietnam

Fifty years later, the Qing officially permitted the emigration of Chinese as per the first Treaty of Peking; additional tens of thousands moved to Cholon without giving up their Chinese nationality. Privileged over the native Vietnamese in the new French colonial system, these immigrants were typically single men who married local women, building the existing Sino-Vietnamese merchant class into an economic elite that dominated the finances of the South until reunification in 1975.

That’s one of the reasons the names for these places can be so confusing; they not only have a Chinese name and Vietnamese name, but are interchangeably called a guildhall, temple, assembly hall, pavillion, or pagoda. In China, these would be separate institutions within a community; in Cholon, the assembly halls are one stop shops, with most not more than a five minute walk from the next.

4. Ong Bon Pagoda - Nhi Phu Temple, 1765

(also known as Er Fu temple, Chauzhou Guild Hall and Sheng Mu temple)

Ni Phu (two cities) assembly hall was built by Hokkien immigrants from Xuanzhou and Zhangzhou. This is the only temple in Cholon where Ong Ban, the god of the soil, is worshipped. The best days to visit are the last day of the lunar year, and the second day of the new lunar year. On these days, traditional Nanyin music is performed on vintage instruments.

Next door is a high school built in the French colonial era that still teaches Chinese language classes; various Chinese dialects and standard Mandarin are still commonly spoken in Cholon, and the Chinese minority population here is still considered somewhat privileged and unassimilated. That said, the Hokkien worshippers at this pagoda are minorities even among the ethnic Chinese of Cholon, most of whom are Cantonese or Teochew.

5. Ming Dynasty Ancestors Village Hall, 1789

This temple is only open between 8:00 and 12:00 on weekdays, because there’s an elderly caretaker/tour guide (Mme. Vuong) who speaks English well, and this is when she prefers to volunteer. A lifelong worshipper here, she explains the history of the temple and its renovations. The temple was damaged in 1962 and the rear house was largely rebuilt at this time.

6. Sanshan Hokkien Temple, 1796

(also known as Hội Quán Tam Sơn, San Hui Temple, Fuzhou Guild Hall and 三山會館)

Built by immigrants from Fuzhou to worship the Lords of the 3 Mountains, this temple also holds a shrine to the goddess of fertility, Me Sanh, and is known locally as the right place to pray for a baby. When I was there, a couple of the tiniest puppies were cuddling in front of an altar.

Pagoda Hopping in Cholon: Part 1, HCMC | Vietnam

As early as 1698, as many as 40,000 Chinese immigrants were recorded as living in Cholon (roughly equivalent to present day districts 5,6, and 11), then the largest Chinatown in the world. Known as the Ming-Heung, they were political refugees from the fall of the Ming dynasty, and formed the first intermarried Sino-Vietnamese community in the South. Chinese immigration continued at low, stable levels through the 18th century, despite the massacres of ethnic Chinese that occurred after every intercession of the Qing dynasty into the wars between the various kingdoms and duchies that make up modern day Vietnam, including those of the Trịnh lords, Nguyễn lords, Lê dynasty, and Tây Sơn brothers.

The Tây Sơn army in particular alternately massacred and recruited Chinese, with sanctioned pogroms in 1776, 1783 and 1792. The Chinese community didn’t emigrate; they simply changed their allegiance to the Nguyễn lords. So did the Qianlong emperor, whose troops helped enthrone them as the Nguyễn dynasty in 1802. Under their rule, ethnic Chinese enjoyed equal status under the law.

Currently only 5% of the population of Cholon identifies as Hoa; whoever stayed after the purges during the Sino-Viet war is now completely assimilated. Even so, the halls are still very active. So let’s take a look! For ease of use, I’ve titled them as their name appears on google maps. I’ve also sorted from oldest to newest.

1. Teochew Guan Yu Temple, 1684

(also known as Nghia An Hoi Quan Pagoda, Guan Di Temple, Yian Clan Hall, Ong Pagoda)

Originally built in 1684 by Teochew immigrants, Guan Di/Yu (the god of war and literature) is worshipped here. The temple is famous for its traditional woodwork. The best night to visit is the 15th day of the lunar new year, when an annual full scale traditional opera is performed.

2. Quan Am pagoda, 1740

(also known as the Ôn Lăng temple)

Built in 1740 by Hokkien immigrants from Quanzhou prefecture, the Quan Am pagoda is the biggest and flashiest of Cholon’s Chinese halls. Three gods are primarily worshipped here: Guanyin (the goddess of mercy), Mazu (the Fujianese sea goddess and queen of heaven), and Amitabha Buddha (the Buddha of immeasurable light and life).

3. Ba Thien Hau Temple, 1760

(also known as Guangzhou Guild Hall, Matsu Temple, and Cholon Po temple)

Supposedly the oldest surviving Taoist temple in the district, Mazu (the goddess of seafarers) is worshipped here. Mazu is one of the most commonly worshipped goddesses in the Chinese diaspora because it was customary for immigrants to set up a temple in her honor once they arrived at their new destinations safely. The temple is famed for its ceramic sculpted finishes.